Boundaries (girlxgirl)

Loverboy

      Talk about a night from hell. Haley woke up with the worst hangover she had ever had, but she couldn't stop thinking about Tess's voice in her ear and the softness of her skin. The clock read 11:08am. Haley knew she should be studying for her upcoming license exam in two weeks, but her head was throbbing and she just wanted to stay in bed. She secretly hoped she'd wake up to a text from Tess, but there was nothing. If the hangover wasn't an excuse enough to stay in bed, then the disappointment of waking up without a text from her was. Haley went back to sleep where her dreams were better than reality.

      Later that afternoon she went for a walk by the river to clear her head. It was cold, but the crisp cool air shook her body awake and gave her a boost of energy. There were only three people crazy enough to be out in this kind of weather, Haley and the couple walking towards her about 100 yards away. Haley decided to sit on a picnic table and watch the sun set behind the tree line. The couple came into view after passing behind a bush. Her heart sank as she saw Tess walking hand in hand with some guy she assumed to be her boyfriend. Tess must have felt someone's eyes on her as she turned her head right towards Haley. They were holding hands or should I say it seemed like he was holding her hand while her fingers were formed loosely in his hand. Tess looked away and quickly pulled her hand from his hand to tuck her hair behind her ear. Irritated and bummed Haley laughed, causing Tess to look again, as she jumped off the table, pulled the hood up to her sweatshirt, and walked to her car.

Tess's POV--

      Her hand was perfect in mine and for once I didn't want to let go. Last night I felt my skin burning at her touch. I felt her once and I've longed to be touched by her everywhere else since then. I've been in a relationship for 7 months with Matt, but his feelings keep getting stronger and I'm still waiting to get past the "he's cute" stage. He's successful, outgoing, and good-looking, but our interests never seem to align, even in the bedroom. We aren't intimate much due to my lack of interest most of the time, but when we were it's never pleasurable for me. I don't think I've ever even had an orgasm with him. Now that I think about it, it's been a few years since I've had one with someone.

      I can't believe she saw me with Matt and holding hand of all things. I was embarrassed, but I shouldn't be. If he really meant something to me, I would be proud to be the woman on his arm in public places. Instead, I felt ashamed that I was flaunting him in front of her. I'm not even sure if she's a lesbian, or if she's even in to me, or if she cared. What if all this time she's just been trying to be nice? I was in my head and overthinking, something that happened frequently.

Haley's POV--

"Focus," I said out loud when I got to my car before speeding off down the road. I had made a deal with myself to forget Tess until I passed my exam and then worry about what to do with her. That Tuesday, a week before my exam, I decided to go downtown to my favorite cafe to study. They had the best coffee and I was sure the fire place would be on. There was one booth left in the cafe and one person in front of me in the line. "That will be $4.59," I heard the barista say to the woman who had obviously tried paying with her card, before it came back declined. She was a woman in her late 30s who was obviously having a rough day judging by the bags under her eyes and the bloodshot eyes that hinted she had been crying. I paid for beverage and saw her take the last table. I sighed and looked around one last time before getting ready to leave. "Hey come sit with me, it's the least I could do," I heard a voice call out. I sat down across from the woman who was in front of me. Now getting a better look at her, she looked more exhausted than I thought and the last thing I needed was for her to unload on me. "I'm waiting on my sister, but she won't be here for another half hour so we can share until something else opens up," she said. I knew someone would have to leave in that time and thanked her with a smile. Her name was Elizabeth and she was a teacher. The more I got to knew her the more I realized she was also a lesbian. I couldn't help but wonder if she got the same vibe from me.

It wasn't long after that I saw her stand up and wave her sister over to the table. My back was towards her and I didn't see who was walking over until we both turned to face one another. "If this wasn't the work of some other force," I thought. We stared deeply into each others eyes without saying a word to one another. Elizabeth had to break the silence saying, "What's the story here?" Tess gave a weak smile, seeming to express some amount of guilt for the other day. She sat on the same side as her sister as I sat across from them. I told Elizabeth the minimum about how I knew her sister. I could see Tess eyeing me curiously as I spoke. I felt a foot slide beside mine from the other side of the table. I didn't move as I was still trying to figure out what her motive was. I was still upset with her, but when she spoke I couldn't help but be mesmerized by her. Her voice always put me in a calm state even if I didn't want to be. I felt my gaze soften as I switched between watching her mouth and staring into her eyes. Elizabeth had been staring intently at both of us with a smile on her face as we had a conversation. Then, Tess moved forward at the edge of her seat, now moving her leg next to mine so that it was touching. I moved as far back in my seat as I could, knowing it was time to go before she thought we were on good terms, or worse, her sister realized I had feelings for her sister. I abruptly got up and announced it was time for me to move. I gathered my things and thanked Elizabeth for allowing me to sit with her by extending my hand. I glanced at the beautiful woman sitting next to her with so much I that I wanted to say, but instead nodding and saying, "Tess".